Poland 2020—Semi-final 1, Szansa na Sukces, TVP2, 2 February 2020
This post may come as something of a surprise, as Poland has not even had a national final in many years, and never had semi-finals previously. Nonetheless, TVP announced last month that Poland’s entrant for the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest would be chosen via a special round of its proprietary and long-running format, Szansa na Sukces. The first round was held on Sunday 2 February and there will be two further semis over the coming weeks with a final held thereafter.
Poland has enjoyed something of a rollercoaster at Eurovision since it returned in 2014 after a 2-year break. This is illustrated by the jury for Szansa na Sukces. Firstly, there is Cleo, who together with Donotan and some milkmaids, came 14th in 2014. Secondly, Michał Szpak (foreman for the first semi), gained Poland’s third best placing of all time in 2016. Finally, Gromee, who together with Lukas Meijer failed to qualify for the finals in 2018.
While Poland is conscious that it has underperformed at adult Eurovision, its record at junior Eurovision is much stronger, with two wins in as many years. The country hosted the most recent contest in the southern city of Gliwice. Gromee, who had played a role in this contest, was keen to stress how well Poland had organised the event, and that this shows they could successfully host the adult version.
Szansa na Sukces was the first talent show in Poland after the end of communism, debuting in 1993 and running continuously until 2012 then being revived in 2019. Amateur singers are given an opportunity to sing a song “karaoke style” in front of a jury, giving them a kind of “chance, or shot, at success”, hence the name of the show.
For the special Eurovision 2020 edition, which immediately precedes the main 2020 edition of the show, there were 500 applications, which were whittled down to 21 contestants. These were divided into three groups, the first seven of which were given the task to perform an ABBA song. The actual song is randomised, being chosen by the host just before the artist sings. The future two rounds will feature Eurovision classics and Beatles songs respectively. The final will combine cover versions and potential entries.
Before each song, there is also a video clip of the original performers. On this occasion, this included two unusual clips of ABBA’s trip to Poland in October 1976 from TVP’s own archives. More familiar clips were also shown alongside some Eurovision extracts.
The seven contestants were as follows:
Patryk Skoczyński, from Inowrocław in Central Poland, who drew lot number 5 and sang Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
Emilia Sanecka, from a small town in the mountains of the South of Poland, who drew lot 4 and sang Waterloo.
Julia and Wiktoria Szlachta, twins from the town of Kroczyc, who drew lot 1 and performed Dancing Queen.
Kasia Dereń, from Warsaw, who drew lot 7 and was allotted Mamma Mia!
Amelia Andryszczyk, from Ostrów Mazowiecka, who featured in The Voice Kids, and tried out for Poland at Junior Eurovision in 2016, who drew lot 3 and sang SOS.
Sargis Davtyan, who drew lot 6 and sang Voulez-Vous?
Maja Hyży, from Kołobrzeg, who drew lot 2 and sang Knowing Me, Knowing You.
The results were given swiftly and with little explanation of process. Kasia Dereń was announced the winner and will proceed to the final.
Poland 2020—Semi-final 2, Szansa na Sukces, TVP2, 9 February 2020
The show was back for a second round on the afternoon of Sunday 9 February 2020. This time, Gromee was the chairman of the jury and the theme for 7 new candidates was “Eurovision’s Greatest Hits”.
The quality of the production seemed to have improved from the first semi-final and it was also announced that there would be a live orchestra for the national final. Of note was also the range of languages sung in this round, to a good level.
The seven new candidates were as follows:
· Damian Kulej, from Katowice, drew lot 3 and sang Heroes by Måns Zelmerlöw, winner of the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest;
· Paulina Czapla, a jazz Singer from Malbork in the north of the country, drew lot 2 and sang Salvador Sobral’s 2017 winner Amar Pelos Dois in the original Portuguese. A video was also shown of her singing To Nie Ja!, Poland’s most successful Eurovision entry to date, to its original singer Edyta Górniak as a child on a talent show;
· Weronika Curyło, from Katowice and an ethnic Romany, who had placed second in the Voice of Poland, draw lot 6 and sang Dschinghis Khan Germany’s 1979 in the original German;
· Stashka, who had won a “mini Eurovision” contest in Sweden as a child, drew lot 7 and sang the grammatically corrected If I Were Sorry, originally sung by Frans for Sweden in 2016;
· Saszan, who came sixth in Poland’s national final of 2018 with the song Nie chcę Ciebie mniej, a competition won by the jury foreman Gromee, drew lot 5 and sung Congratulations by Cliff Richard, the UK’s 1968 entry;
· Alicja Szemplińska, who has competed in a number of talent shows from an early age, drew lot 4 and sang To Nie Ja!, Poland’s first entry in Eurovision from 1994; and
· Aleksandra Nykiel, who won the popular vote at the final of the last series of Szansa na Sukcess, drew lot 1, and sang Save Your Kisses For Me, the UK’s winner from 1976.
The judges decided that Alicja Szemplińska had won the round, and she will progress to the grand finale. They complimented both Weronika Curyło and Paulina Czapla for their interpretations.